Christopher Eccleston photographed at the Century Club. Photograph: Suki Dhanda for the Observer

Acting is a mixture of instinct and analysis, but if I had to take one away it would be the analysis. It's about the endless boring repetition of line learning and then at some point you're free of the script and can be instinctive with it.I've not worked for seven months and it does make me anxious. It concerns me. And I feel – to a certain extent – that I'm wasting my life because I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do.Criminal or cop… you find the hero in the villain and the villain in the hero. That's the answer. We all hold the duality.My family takes what I do with a pinch of salt. One of the best things I ever heard my dad say was at a family party. Someone said: "You must be very proud of Chris." And he said: "I'm very proud of all three of my sons."You take the work home with you. If you spend the day replicating what it feels like for your children to die, for example, it's like you're playing with your chemistry set, so there's going to be a little bit of backwash. I go for a run. And drink red wine. Sometimes I run down the street drinking red wine!The only thing to be scared of is the death of loved ones. I'm not scared of anything else.I'd like to be remembered with a smile,with a laugh at my foolishness. I'm foolish from the minute I put my feet on the floor getting out of bed.The holy trinity is Eric Morecambe, Les Dawson and Tommy Cooper.I have been mostly very happy in my life. I put it down to being loved. I've been absolutely certain of the love of my parents and my twin brothers.My earliest memory is turning right at the top of our path on my bike and saying to myself: "I am me, doing this now." I was about four. I turned right, said that to myself and shot off. I think it was a celebration of the moment.The staples of drama are not people who have been happy. Nobody wants to watch a drama about a happy person.Paul Scholes is the greatest footballer I've ever seen and he conducts his career in an exemplary fashion. I saw him in central Manchester. I've seen people – celebrities – before, and there's no way I would approach them. But I wasn't missing this opportunity. He was very modest, very intelligent.I get a great response from youngsters. Usually they don't say much – it's quite overwhelming for them to meet Doctor Who. One little boy just burst into tears. His mum said to me: "Will you say hello?" I did, and he burst into tears – and I understand it, that confusion about what's real. Long may it last.When I act badly it's because I chose a bad script. You do it because you've been unemployed or you think it might be a good move, and it never is.Everyone has redeeming features. Everyone. Whether they have enough for us to forgive them is up to the individual.The football and bitter are obviously vastly superior in the north.Christopher Eccleston stars in TheShadowLine, which starts on 5 May on BBC2 at 9pm